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Anne Ashworth: Uncertainty may be the new normal

Anne Ashworth, property and personal finance editor

A year ago it was predicted that a scarcity of homes for sale would continue to drive up prices in 2016. It was also thought that transactions would remain low, with an increasing number of middle-class families unable to move because of stamp duty and the chronic problem of obtaining a large enough mortgage.

These forecasts have largely come true, although none of the pundits foresaw that Britain would vote for Brexit or that Donald Trump would triumph. These events will continue to reverberate, but they also appear to have encouraged those individuals who perceive houses to be a safe haven at a time of global dislocation. Their adage is: “Property may get sick, but it doesn’t die.”